Electronic devices, such as microprocessors, become heated during use. If the excess heat is not efficiently dissipated, it can impair performance by slowing the processing times. Thus, solutions have been proposed which provide ways of cooling the hot electronic devices.
Conventionally, heat exchangers (e.g., devices which absorb heat from one area and transfer it to another area for dissipation) are mounted directly above the heat producing device. Such heat exchangers tend to be of a uniform width and tend to dissipate the excess heat through a plurality of fins stacked above the base of the heat exchanger. Although efficient, this type of heat exchanger is not desirable in mobile computing systems because the height of the heat exchanger exceeds the depth of a mobile computer casing.
Another type of heat exchanger, called a remote heat exchanger, is used in mobile computing systems. Conventional remote heat exchangers include a base member (e.g., a heat pipe) of uniform width, and a plurality of fins attached to one end of the base. Although the end opposite the fins may be applied directly to a silicon die (e.g., a processor), a more efficient heat transfer occurs when a heat spreader is used. A heat spreader is a piece of heat conductive material, generally having a cross-sectional area larger than a surface area of the heat producing device. Typically the uniform width of the heat exchanger base is less than the width of the heat spreader. Consequently, a less-than-optimum cooling results because heat escaping through portions of the heat spreader not covered by the base is dissipated into the air rather than being conveyed through the base to a remote heat dissipation area.